A Denver-area police officer was fatally shot by a colleague who mistook him for an armed assailant early Friday, authorities said.

James Davies, a 35-year-old police officer in Lakewood, Colorado, was shot outside a house that he and fellow Lakewood officers - including the firing officer - were checking after hearing shots fired there, police spokesman Steve Davis said.

The firing officer, whom police havenâ€™t identified, thought Davies was an armed threat in the dark of night, the spokesman said.

â€śThis has affected our entire department very, very deeply,â€ť Davis told reporters Friday afternoon. â€śI donâ€™t think it could have a more tragic set of circumstances.â€ť

The incident started when an officer, searching for the source of gunfire that had been heard in the area, saw someone firing a gun on the porch of the home in Lakewood, Davis said.

A number of officers, including Davies, arrived at the home and took three people into custody in connection with the gunfire. Preparing to enter the home a second time to search it for anyone else, officers surrounded the building, with Davies standing in the backyard, Davis said.

In a neighboring yard, on the other side of a fence, an officer saw Davies with a gun and didnâ€™t know he was a police officer, the spokesman said.

â€śItâ€™s my understanding that the firing officer could see either a silhouette or enough lighting to see someone with a gun, and mistook him for an armed suspect,â€ť Davis said. â€śApparently there were some commands given, but quite frankly everyone seems to think Officer Davies thought that the other officer was in contact with someone else, and was giving commands to that person.â€ť

Davies, in full police uniform, would have had little reason to believe that the shouting officer was commanding him, Davis said.

The second officer shot Davies, who died at the scene, the spokesman said.

Davies, who had been with the department for more than six years, had a wife and two children. The departmentâ€™s chief spent part of Friday consoling Daviesâ€™ family.

â€śYou can imagine the anguish that the other officer is going through right now,â€ť Davis said. â€śWe feel like we have two victims in the department, to be quite frank. That officer is really having a difficult time with what happened last night.â€ť

The incident will be investigated by a team of detectives from several agencies in Jefferson County, and a district attorney would decide whether to charge the firing officer after getting the investigatorsâ€™ report, Davis said.

Police didnâ€™t say what prompted the gunfire that attracted the officers to the home. The three people who had been detained hadnâ€™t been arrested as of Friday afternoon, Davis said. He said he didnâ€™t know whether they would be charged.

soundoff(363 Responses)

tracy

This is ridiculous . something is odd here . obviously the officer killed was not looking at , pointing at or engaging the officer who shot him in any way but he still shot to kill . why not just scream – hey you werearing the denver police uniform – drop your gun.

this was a set up . all the officers were probably on the take and needed to get rid of the guy not following along . so they lured Davies with this ruse. police officers wear hats that are very distinctive ,even in the dark their siluettes are very distinctive.

Tracy....I am happy to know that there is someone in this country that was able to figure this out. I bet poor Davies must have left his distinctive lilttle hat in the car. Do you really think all cops where those hats? Stop believing what you see in the movies. It doesn't happen like that.

The dead officer looks pretty white to me. what are you talking about? you know, just because you are not white does not mean you cannot be a racist. you sound kinda racist. i do not automatically assume racism every time a minority kills a white person. question: with the hispanic pop. on the rise, do you soon plan to switch hatred teams and assume that all of their crimes are racist?

nother reason cops need a tighter leash. Charges against those arrested will probablybe dropped and amped up al was just too itchy to smoke someone. Got your pal huh? It doesnt feel good from tht side does it?

If death by friendly fire was used to disarm police and military units, there wouldn't be very many of them left. Its sad, but it happens. All one can do is try to minimize it. Sometimes its the nature of the beast.

What kind of "military training"? Would the training by the Air Force be considered military training? I was in the Air Force and I never shot a hand gun while I was in. I know that Pat Tillman was in the Army and died due to friendly fire. Doesn't the Army get military training?

It sucks that your friend died, BUT COPS AND WAR HAVE TURNED THIS COUNTRY INTO A BATTLE GROUND. The crimes aren't as bad when the Army and Cops stop making people crazy! There are always sickos but now are nation is turning sick

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